Thank you for stabilising this club after a shaky (to say the least) five-year period. If you leave the club in a better state than it is than when you joined it - there is no question that you made a positive impact.

Alexander leaves the club fifth in League One, still with a great chance of gaining promotion to the Championship.

Let’s take it back to when he first arrived at the club…

The Mark Robins’ era came to its close after an embarrassing 5-0 loss to a struggling Blackpool side - who ended up getting relegated to League Two the same season.

During Alexander’s two-year stint as Iron boss, we never experienced humiliation like that.

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After being appointed in March 2016, Alexander’s Scunthorpe United went on to win seven of their last nine games – including that 2-0 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

The next season started so promising. The Iron started the campaign looking like one of the best teams in the league. However, the famous nine-game winless streak saw that they slipped out of the top two places, and although they won their last five games, they had to settle for a place in the play-offs, finishing third.

Alexander was widely criticised for his negative tactics in the second leg of the semi-final, as many thought that he lined his team up not to lose, rather than to win.

Whilst I disagree with this, there is no question that he could have played a more attacking side, with Duane Holmes on the bench and Hakeeb Adelakun not even in the squad, the Iron needed a creative spark in that game and they looked flat.

That can’t happen in the biggest game of the season – some fans never forgave him for that.

It was a devastating end to an absolutely fantastic season.

Graham Alexander was sacked on Saturday night

The following summer came around quickly after the Iron had released several first-team players, which left huge gaps in the side. Having missed out on several reported targets, the board did extremely well in bringing in top players such as Matt Gilks, Rory McArdle, Cameron Burgess and Funso Ojo.

Once again, the campaign started off looking good as they played like a confident team who would be promotion favourites, from the beginning of the season up until the New Year.

However, since then it has not looked good.

Once again, Alexander’s side hit a poor run of form at the exact same time as the previous season – is there something to that, or is just coincidence? We’ll probably never know.

There is no question that he made some mistakes during this run, the biggest being his personnel choices.

Continuously dropping Conor Townsend, who in my opinion is playing the best football of his career to play the best centre-back in the league at left-back will never make sense to me. I understand that Wallace’s added height to counter oppositions’ aerial threats gives you a defensive advantage, but you lose so much from what Townsend brings offensively down the left.

Conor Townsend lost his place in Alexander's starting side

The team has missed Townsend’s overlapping runs, his ability to get forward and make things happen in many games during this run.

When you are one of the better teams in the league, you should play to your strength’s – not your oppositions weaknesses.

Last season, Alexander was awarded the time to bounce back from the poor run and he did just that with the Iron winning their last five games of the season.

In my opinion, he earned the right to be awarded that time to turn it around once again. But our Chairman made the tough decision to relieve him of his duties, so that they can find a new manager in time to give them the best chance of promotion this season.

Fair play to Peter Swann.

He came out and addressed everything he needed to address and has constantly answered questions which fans want to know the answer to. Like I said on social media – he wants to get this team promoted this season, and I applaud him for that.

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It would not have been an easy decision to let him go, and time will tell if it will be correct decision. But still sitting in fifth with a very good chance of a trip to Wembley, he feels a new manager come in and bring an immediate spark.

So, who next?

I can’t for the life of me understand why Scunthorpe fans wouldn’t want Steve McClaren in. A big name manager who would attract players to the club and has proven credentials at the highest level. He has reportedly ruled himself out of contention... but you never know.

The two favourites for the job look to Steve Cotterill and Grant McCann – two very different managers.

Cotterill, an experienced manager who has done well in League One during his 20-year managerial career whilst McCann is a young manager and Scunthorpe United fan favourite after his two year playing career with the club.

I personally have not seen much of Steve Cotterill’s teams lately, but there is no question he has the experience, knowhow and abilities to come in and do a good job at Glanford Park.

Some of the contenders for the Scunthorpe United job are clockwise from top left: Nick Daws, Uwe Rosler, Steve Cotterill and Grant McCann

Grant McCann, in my opinion, was sacked unfairly by Peterborough. I like the way his side played against Scunthorpe in both games this season and he is only going to become a better manager with more experience.

Another reported candidate is Uwe Rosler. The German has struggled in his recent managerial roles and was sacked by Fleetwood Town as they looked like they could have been destined for relegation.

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If the Iron want to go down the route of a young manager, I think two former Premier League greats would be interesting choices - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Harry Kewell.

Hasselbaink did a fantastic job with Burton Albion, before struggling with a turbulent QPR side. He took over a Northampton side who could still get relegated, but I actually liked the way his teams plays. I think if he is given the calibre of players which Scunthorpe have, he could do a good job at Glanford Park.

Harry Kewell is kind of out there, I’ll admit that.

The former Liverpool winger has done an excellent job with a Crawley Town team which most believed were destined for relegation. He was reportedly strongly considered to take charge of Charlton Athletic, as people around the Football League identify him as a manager with a bright future.

Like I say, it was a real shame to see Graham leave. He should be proud of what he achieved at Scunthorpe United, bringing the club many good memories and taking the club to a better place from when he joined.

I think I speak for all Scunthorpe fans in wishing him nothing but the best in the future, and hope he lands at a top club in a good situation – who knows, we may just see him again earlier than we think!

As for our new manager - no matter who is named - now is the time for everyone to get behind the club, rally together and make one final push in gaining promotion.

Remember, this could still go down in one of Scunthorpe United’s best seasons in the club’s history!